The invention relates to an arrangement for mounting and adjusting a sensor, particularly a distance radar sensor, on a motor vehicle, the sensor being accommodated in a sensor housing which is tiltably fastened with a degree of freedom on a holder to be fastened to the motor vehicle.
Arrangements of the above-mentioned type for fastening such a sensor are known, for example, from German Patent Document DE 10 2004 046 559 A1, European Patent Document EP 1 444 114 B1 or European Patent Document EP 0 937 311 B1. In the case of holding arrangements according to the state of the art, the sensor housing is either fastened by use of at least three screws to a holder and adjusted, or an adjusting screw is rotatably and tiltably held in a torsion-proof manner at the mounting point in a fixing dome. In the case of the systems known from the state of the art, although the adjusting of the sensor housing can take place by way of a plurality of adjusting devices, this also involves the risk of an adjusting of the alignment of the sensor housing with respect to the holder at several adjusting possibilities. A radar distance sensor can basically predominantly be adjusted in the vertical direction; a horizontal alignment plays a subordinate role and can be omitted.
Based on this background, it is an object of the invention to provide a simplified arrangement for mounting and adjusting a sensor on a motor vehicle, by which a vertical alignment of the sensor becomes possible using a single adjusting device.
This and other objects are achieved by an arrangement for mounting and adjusting a sensor, particularly a radar sensor, on a motor vehicle. The sensor is accommodated in a sensor housing, which is fastened in a tiltable manner with a degree of freedom on a holder to be fastened on the motor vehicle. The sensor housing has receiving devices or seats in a first lateral edge area and an opposing second lateral edge area, in which fastening domes are, in each case, arranged. The sensor housing is fixed in the first lateral edge area by way of at least two fastening domes and fasteners engaging therein, rotatably about an axis, on the holder. The sensor housing is tiltably fixed with respect to the holder in the second lateral edge area by way of a fastening dome and a single threaded bolt engaging in the fastening dome and the holder.
The sensor housing can be moved with respect to the holder in only one degree of freedom, so that only a vertical tilting of the sensor housing becomes possible. The pivotal point or the axis of rotation of the sensor housing with respect to the holder is situated in the two fastening domes arranged in the first lateral edge area, fasteners devices engaging into the fastening domes.
In an advantageous embodiment, the fastening domes reach around receiving spaces in which correspondingly complementarily designed sections of the fastening devices can engage, so that a rotation can be achieved.
In a further advantageous embodiment, the fasteners are ball clips having a ball end (head), which fits into the correspondingly spherical receiving space of the corresponding fastening dome. The ball clips are snapped or clipped with their respective ball ends through the holder into the respective pertaining fastening dome. The ball clips therefore fasten the sensor housing to the holder by way of the fastening domes arranged therein, but simultaneously permit a rotation or tilting of the sensor housing with respect to the holder along an axis of rotation formed by the ball centers of the ball ends of the ball clips.
The continuous adjusting of the tilted position of the sensor housing with respect to the holder takes place exclusively by way of a single threaded bolt. The threaded bolt engages in a third fastening dome arranged in the second lateral edge area of the sensor housing and engages with the holder at a corresponding pertaining point. This is done in order to define the variable distance of the sensor housing from the holder in the second lateral edge area with respect to the defined distance of the sensor housing from the holder in the first lateral edge area, and thereby coordinate the tilted position of the sensor housing with respect to the holder. In this case, it is advantageous for the fastening dome inserted into the sensor housing in the second lateral edge area to have an open design toward the front, so that an adjusting tool can be guided through the fastening dome to the threaded bolt. As a result of the rotation of the threaded bolt, the tilted position of the sensor housing can be adapted with respect to the holder.
In an advantageous embodiment, the threaded bolt is constructed as a spherical threaded bolt and engages with its spherical section in the pertaining fastening dome, which has a complementary receiving device, in order to be rotatably fixed therein. The threaded bolt extends through an opening in the holder, in which an insert nut is arranged which fixes the threaded bolt in its position at the holder. As an alternative, it may be provided in a simplified embodiment to make available a thread, which correspondingly matches the threaded bolt, directly in the opening of the holder.
In an advantageous embodiment of the invention, it is further provided that the fastening domes have slots. These extend along the holding area, which rests against the sensor housing, as well as along the area which is inserted into the receiving devices of the sensor housing.
According to an advantageous embodiment, the ball clips are also slotted, in which case, a holding area extending along the holder also has slots, and these extend in an area that is inserted through the holder into the fastening domes. The slots have the advantageous effect that the fastening domes have a certain elasticity in the area of their receiving spaces. As a result, when the sensor housing is rotated with respect to the holder, no deformations will occur in the area of the fastening points at the connection between the ball clips and the fastening domes.
The advantageous material for the fastening domes as well as the ball clips is plastic material; the spherical threaded bolt is preferably constructed of metal.
Other objects, advantages and novel features of the present invention will become apparent from the following detailed description of one or more preferred embodiments when considered in conjunction with the accompanying drawings.